Adventures Underground to add coffee shop, record shop

Owners of a Richland book and music store are hoping to go gold with the addition of a new coffee shop and record shop.

Amanda Divine, co-owner of Adventures Underground on George Washington Way, hopes to have Caterpillar Cafe and Au Records open by this fall.

The name of the coffee shop, Divine said, was chosen with Adventure Underground's Alice in Wonderland theme in mind.

Au Records uses the store's initials to form the element symbol for gold -- a nod to the distinction bestowed on best-selling records.

Divine said the business expansion has been about three years in the making, but began to take shape this year when Adventures Underground secured a lease for a neighboring storefront in the Uptown Shopping Center in March.

The addition of the coffee shop and record store should add about 1,800 square feet to Adventure Underground's existing 10,000 square feet of retail space that houses a mix of comics, new and used books, albums, trading cards, toys, puzzles and more.

Divine envisions a relaxed atmosphere in the extension where shoppers will be able to lounge, sip coffee and leaf through vinyl records.

"Our goal is to be the place for pop culture," she said. "We want to have a good community tie-in for everything, and I think coffee adds to that."

Kat Himes, co-owner of Caterpillar Cafe, said the cafe and tea house should feature coffee from Cafe D'arte in Seattle, as well as bites to eat from Ethos Bakery in Richland.

Adventures Underground has been renovating the adjacent space for about two months. They had considered a different nearby location, but settled on the former nail salon and video rental store after lease negotiations with the first option proved difficult.

Initial renovations included clearing walls, doorways and closets to better open up the room. An entranceway from the existing store is being built, and Himes expects electrical and plumbing work to follow in the next few weeks.

Divine and Himes envision Adventures Underground taking on a vibe similar to Powell's Books, the venerable Portland bookstore that's as much a community hangout as a place of commerce.

"It'll be a space where people can just hang out for a bit," Divine said.